From Moms Rising (https://www.momsrising.org/):
As threatened, President Trump is trying his best to “let Obamacare implode.” Indeed, through deliberate acts of sabotage, the Trump administration is purposefully driving up health insurance premiums to undermine the Affordable Care Act (ACA/Obamacare)!
President Trump has repeatedly threatened to terminate payments to insurers for subsidies that help low-income families afford the high cost of health insurance. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported last week that this action would have serious consequences for real people. [1]
*Quick action: Tell Congress, President Trump, and U.S. HHS Secretary Price not to sabotage our health care system at http://action.momsrising.org/sign/healthcare-sabotage-aug-2017/!
President Trump, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Price, and Congress have a responsibility to try to make our health care system better, not to sabotage it. The CBO report found that terminating payments for cost-sharing reductions would increase premiums next year by 20 percent (20%!!) and by 25 percent in 2020. This careless and irresponsible policy decision would also increase the federal deficit by $194 billion and drive some insurance companies out of the individual market completely, leaving 5 percent of the population without access to any nongroup insurance plans. [2]
An estimated 1 million people would lose coverage in 2018 due to lacking any insurance carriers in their area. These are our friends, family, and neighbors. Our health care is not a political football to be leveraged for political gain, and these callous threats must stop.
These subsidies help 6 million low-income families afford health insurance, lift families, and boost our economy. [3] Withholding these payments, would cause calamity in the individual insurance market, and devastate families and our economy. Congress, President Trump, and U.S. HHS Sec. Price have a responsibility to try to make our health care system better—not to sabotage it. Even just making these public statements has caused uncertainty to grow among health insurers who are currently making decisions about whether to offer plans for 2018. This rhetoric is dangerous for our nation’s health care security, families’ well-being, and our country’s economy.
It’s time to keep marching, keep raising our voices, and keep the pressure on! It’s immoral and heartless to actively try to collapse our individual health care system and hold millions of families’ health care coverage hostage for political gain, as is being done now by President Trump and some members of Congress.
This is a big deal. Using the health of our nation’s families as a political bargaining chip is immoral and heartless. And actively working to make our health care system implode is beyond the pale.
The more people who speak out by signing on now, the more powerful our impact. Share this action link with your friends and family and on social media: http://action.momsrising.org/sign/healthcare-sabotage-aug-2017/
[1] Congressional Budget Office, The Effects of Terminating Payments
for Cost-Sharing Reductions
[2] Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, CBO: Severe Harm If Trump Halts Health Cost-Sharing Payments
[3] NY Times, Trump Threat to Obamacare Would Send Premiums and Deficits Higher
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